On 5th September, Ambassador He Xiangdong met with former Taoiseach, Mr. Enda Kenny TD, at Leinster House. They had an in-depth and warm exchange on strengthening bilateral ties between China and Ireland and other issues of common concern.

Mr. Kenny recalled his meetings with President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang when he was Taoiseach. He expressed his admiration for the remarkable economic progress achieved by China, which brings a great opportunity to further develop Ireland-China relationship. Mr. Kenny said the bilateral cooperation in various fields maintains a strong momentum in recent years. He is as always devoted to enhance Ireland-China relations and cooperation in science and technology innovation, financial services, environmental protection and so on.

Ambassador He said the continuous development of bilateral relations and fruitful cooperation in various fields cannot be achieved without Mr. Kenny and other Irish friends' efforts. He spoke highly of the contributions made by Mr. Kenny during his tenure as Taoiseach to Strategic Partnership for Mutually Beneficial Cooperation between China and Ireland and hopes that as Teachta Dála, he could continue to play an active role in strengthening China-Ireland relations.

Ambassador He added both China and Ireland are committed to safeguarding the process of globalization and multilateral free trade system and promoting a more open and inclusive world economy. Both sides could take this opportunity to further enhance the win-win cooperation in trade and investment, science and innovation, green agriculture and food, culture and tourism and other fields. The bilateral relations can be jointly developed as a model of friendship and cooperation between countries that are different in size, social system and development stage. The Chinese side welcome Ireland to be a bridge between China and EU.

Ambassador He also briefed Mr. Enda Kenny China’s principled position on the trade dispute and negotiations with the US. They also exchanged views on Brexit and other international issues.

Also present was Mr. Shen Mingchun, Chief of Political and Press Section of the Embassy.